[Technical Field]
The present invention relates to an electrical connector for circuit boards and a manufacturing method thereof.
[Background Art]
Known electrical connectors for circuit boards include so-called floating connectors, which permit a connectable counterpart component, such as a counterpart connector connected to said electrical connector, to move relative to said electrical connector.
Such a floating connector has a stationary housing, which secures in place one end of the terminals and maintains a fixed position with respect to a circuit board due to the fact that said terminals are solder-connected to said circuit board, and a movable housing which, being separate from said stationary housing and movable relative to said stationary housing, secures in place the other end of the above-mentioned terminals that is in contact with, and connected to, the above-mentioned connectable counterpart components. The terminals have a resilient portion that is not supported in any way and is located between the portions secured in place by the above-mentioned stationary housing and movable housing. As a result of resilient deformation of said resilient portions, the above-mentioned movable housing is rendered movable relative to the stationary housing and makes so-called floating possible.
Known floating connectors include, for example, the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, the terminals have one end thereof secured in place by unitary molding in the stationary housing (pedestal), and the other end secured in place by unitary molding in the movable housing (terminal case) located above said stationary housing. One end of the above-mentioned terminals has a connecting portion whose distal end extends out of the stationary housing and is solder-connected to the circuit board, and the other end has a contact portion, which is positioned on the inner face of a receiving portion receiving a connectable counterpart component and which is electrically connected to said connectable counterpart component.
The above-mentioned terminals have a rectilinear portion that projects outside the movable housing from the above-mentioned contact portion and extends downwardly. A section that is bent in an L-shaped configuration at the lower end of said rectilinear portion is secured in place by the stationary housing, and a resilient portion is formed in the above-mentioned rectilinear portion between the above-mentioned movable housing and stationary housing. As described above, said resilient portion extends in a rectilinear manner and couples the movable housing to the stationary housing at the shortest distance possible.